Rick Haglund: 'If conditions were ever perfect for (right to work), they are right now' - legislator

The "Protect Our Jobs" campaign - which hoped to pre-empt a "right-to-work" push by Michigan lawmakers - failed. So is the timing good for the legislature to take up the issue?AP Photo | The State Journal, Greg DeRuiter

There’s much speculation that lawmakers will soon take up right-to-work legislation after voters rejected a ballot proposal that would have locked collective bargaining rights in the state constitution.

Former Kalamazoo area state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, who is pushing to make Michigan a right-to-work state, says now is the time.

Right-to-work laws prohibit companies from negotiating contracts with unions that require the payment of union dues.

“If conditions were ever perfect for this to happen, they are right now,” Hoogendyk, who represents an organization called Michigan Freedom to Work, said in a news release last week.

Or are they?

Yes, voters rejected guaranteeing collective bargaining rights in the state constitution. And there is support for right to work among Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature.

But not all legislative leaders are on board. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville has said he’s opposed to right to work.

Gov. Rick Snyder continues to dance around the issue. Snyder told reporters the day after Nov. 6 election that right to work still is not on his agenda because it is too divisive.

But Hoogendyk points out there’s a YouTube video of Snyder in which he said in 2010 that he would sign a right-to-work bill should one reach his desk (see the video below).